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TRANSCRIPT: U.S.-RUSSIA SUMMIT SET FOR HELSINKI MARCH 20-21

(Gore, Chernomyrdin announce Clinton-Yeltsin summit) (950)

Washington -- Vice President Al Gore announced plans for a summit between President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to be held March 20-21 in Helsinki, Finland.

Gore made the announcement at a press conference the morning of February 7 at the State Department, where he was meeting with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin for their bi-annual Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission meeting.

Chernomyrdin noted that the agenda for the presidential summit has been set, will be presented to President Clinton later in the day, and announced at a press briefing late February 7.

"We expect, among other things, that the Presidents will address bilateral arms control, European security and a number of economic issues of importance to our peoples," Gore said.

The summit was to have been held in the United States, but U.S. officials had earlier announced their willingness to move it to Europe to accommodate the Russian President, who is still recovering from heart surgery and a bout with pneumonia.

Chernomyrdin expressed pleasure that some 40 documents are ready for signature as a result of this year's session of the technology cooperation group of the Commission

Gore and Chernomyrdin are the co-chairs of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation. The purpose of the Commission, according to Gore, is "to find new and creative ways for our nations and our peoples to promote market reform, democracy and trade and investment that benefits Russia and the United States. And we're proud of the work that we have done."

Following is the State Department transcript:

(begin transcript)

VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us here. As you know, Prime Minister Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin and I are the co-chairs of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation.

We meet biannually, alternating between Washington and Moscow, to find new and creative ways for our nations and our peoples to promote market reform, democracy and trade and investment that benefits Russia and the United States. We're proud of the work that we have done, but this meeting has been a little bit different because we've had an extra challenge as well.

One of the things that Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin asked the Prime Minister and me to work on at this session was the time and the venue for the meeting between the two Presidents, and to establish the agenda for their consideration. I am pleased to say that we have now agreed that President Clinton and President Yeltsin will meet in Helsinki on March 20-21. The two Presidents have asked us to express their deep appreciation for the invitation of President Ahtisaari of Finland.

This will, of course, be an important meeting. We expect, among other things, that the Presidents will address bilateral arms control, European security and a number of economic issues of importance to our peoples.

Later this afternoon, Prime Minister Chernomyrdin and I will meet with President Clinton to review for him the progress that we have made in our own discussions on these issues. Obviously, the Prime Minister and I have been consulting with our respective Presidents throughout the course of these discussions. After that meeting with President Clinton, the Prime Minister and I will hold a full press conference at 3:50 p.m. at the Old Executive Office Building at the White House. We will respond to questions that you have at that time. We will not be responding to questions right now. We look forward to seeing you there.

Mr. Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER CHERNOMYRDIN: (Through Interpreter) Distinguished ladies and gentlemen. We are moving into the completion of this 8th session of the U.S.-Russian Commission on Technology and Technological Cooperation between the United States and Russia.

I can say that this work has been productive, as we have prepared more than 40 documents for signature on the most important issues for our two countries, I would say.

It is extremely important that this session of the Commission is taking place within the context of our preparations for the summit meeting between the Presidents of Russia and the United States -- the summit meeting which has just been announced by the Vice President of the United States.

At the very outset we started to discuss the problem of the summit meeting and the preparations for that summit, and we do hope that the solutions that the Presidents will reach at that summit would be extremely important for all of us. We have agreed on the agenda, and we'll report it to the President of the U.S. today.

As we have already announced, the meeting will take place on the 20th and the 21st of March in Finland, Helsinki, and the agenda will include most topical issues for our two nations and for our bilateral relations, including various international issues.

The level of our preparations for the summit and the interest in clarifying each other's positions gives us great hope for success of the summit. We would like also to thank, on behalf of our Presidents, the President of Finland, Mr. Ahtisaari, for giving us a chance of having the Russian-U.S. Summit in Helsinki. We will meet you, ladies and gentlemen, later, and we'll have a chance of talking to you and answering your questions. Thank you.

(end transcript)
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